Percy Jackson and the Olympians
by Dirtsa21
Summary: Percy Jackson is a 16 year old boy with ADHD and dyslexia, who struggles in high school due to the fact that he destroys every school he attends. On the first day of summer before his junior year, Percy's mother reveals a huge secret that changes Percy's life forever. The question is: Will it make his life better or will he be eternally cursed until his impending demise?
1. Percy Jackson

The cool afternoon of June 21st can be easily described as being the perfect summer day. If any moment were to be a Kodak moment, it would be this one. Families are picnicking in Central Park, enjoying the sun's warmth. Everybody seems to be outside, enjoying the first day of summer with the exception of only one person. Young Percy Jackson, who has decided to spend this beautiful day in bed.

His mother, Sally, has already been awake for hours along with everyone else in the city. She has all the curtains and windows open to let in the crisp, fresh air. Percy's room, on the other hand, is so dark that it would be hazardous for anyone to try and walk in the doorway. Having been in his room numerous time over the last sixteen years, Sally fearlessly opens his door and heads straight for his window without tripping on anything in the process. She draws open the curtains, allowing the bright sunlight to shine over the room. She turns back around and is horrified by the sight before her.

The room is a complete mess! Clothes are thrown carelessly onto the floor. Several of his dresser drawers are wide open with clothes spilling out of them as well. His closet is stuffed with junk and every single one of his hangers is empty. _Probably because all the clothes are on the floor_, Sally thinks to herself. She notices that every nook and cranny of her son's room has something crammed into it. She shakes her head, smiling to herself.

As she finishes surveying the room, she looks towards the bed. Percy is sprawled out, covering his head with his pillow. _No wonder the sunlight didn't wake him up._ His blankets are barely covering him and are almost all the way off the bed, soon joining everything else on the floor. The fitted sheet is only hanging on by one edge. Sally sighs. _My son._

She walks over to the bed, stepping around the clothes piles as if she were jumping around bombs on a minefield. She sits on the edge of the bed next to Percy. She gently shakes his shoulder. Unfortunately, he just groans and slightly shifts his position. Sally purses her lips.

"Percy, wake up," she tells him, shaking him once more.

He groans again and flips over to face her, removing his head from under his pillow. "Mom? Why are you waking me up so early? I don't have to go to school yet. Summer just started last week."

She smiles, holding back a laugh. "It's almost 11:00 in the afternoon."

Percy's sleepy eyes widen a little. "No wonder it's so bright outside."

"Yes. It's time for you to get out of bed too."

"Ugh," he grumbles, dropping his head back onto his bed. "Five more minutes."

"Time to get up. You've been in bed all day. We need to leave soon, remember?"

"No, why? Where are we going?" he asks her, sitting up again.

"I told you Paul and I are going on our honeymoon this summer. You are going to camp until we get back." Yet again, he groans. "Enough moaning and groaning. You can't come with us and I don't want you to be here by yourself all summer. It will end up looking like this room. We've been through this already," Sally explains.

Percy sits up, rubbing his emerald eyes. "I know, but why camp? What am I supposed to do there?"

"Make new friends or you can just enjoy the sun and fresh air."

"Making friends isn't really an option for me. Grover is the only friend I've ever had. I won't be there long anyway because I'll end up blowing up the camp like I did to all my schools. You'll have to either bury my dead body or bail me out of jail."

"Percy," she calmly says, "the camp will be good for you. There will be plenty of people there your age. I'm sure you'll become good friends with some of them. You might even find a girl you like."

"Yeah, right. Every girl who has ever looked at me has had disgust in their eyes at some point. It's like the very sight of me could infect them or something. I might as well be a plague."

"Camp isn't the same as school though. Kids from all over the country will be there. I'm sure one of them will at least be interested. Who wouldn't love my little boy?" Sally says, using a baby voice at the end.

"Mom! I'm not a little boy anymore."

She smiles sadly. "I know. At least give camp a chance. We leave soon, so start packing."

"Fine," he gives in.

Sally leaves the room, heading back to their small kitchen. Percy flops back onto the bed, groaning once more. Then, he sits up and stretches. He hops off the bed, starting for the bathroom down the hallway. He takes a quick shower and goes back to his room to change into his clothes for the day. He shakes his raven black hair dry like a dog and chooses not to do anything else with it. He changes into a periwinkle blue shirt and khaki cargo shorts. Once changed, he begins packing for camp.

_What will camp be like? Will we have to sing camp songs and make macaroni art like in all the movies? I hope not._ Several thoughts similar to these run throughout his head as he slowly packs his clothes. To see whether the clothes on the floor are clean or not, Percy picks them up and smells them. A couple times he nearly gags at the ripe smell of some of his clothes. Whenever he comes across something that smells relatively clean, he sloppily tosses into his suitcase.

He digs deeper into a pile, coming across a pair of blue and white Nike basketball tennis shoes. "I've been looking for these everywhere!" He exclaims out loud.

In another pile, Percy finds a pizza box with a half-eaten slice of pizza in it. "Gross! I haven't been looking for _that_!"

Thinking he's packed enough stuff, he zips up his suitcase and lugs it out to the living room. Before he sets it down by the door, he nearly knocks over a lamp and one of the small end tables by the couch. Luckily, he catches the lamp and puts it back on the table as it tips over. Percy releases a sigh of relief. _That would've been bad!_

"Please be careful, Percy! Try not to break anything before we have to leave!" His mom calls from the other room.

"Sorry, Mom," he calls back, heading in the direction of her voice.

He walks into the kitchen, finding his mother cooking. A few dirty dishes are on the counter-top, but the rest of the dishes are either in the cabinets or in the drying rack next to the sink. Sally always seemed to keep everything clean and spotless minus the train wreck of a room belonging to her son.

"Have you packed everything?" She asks him.

"Yeah. Where's Paul?"

"He'll be here before long."

You may be wondering why Percy called his dad Paul. The answer is very simple. Paul is Percy's step-dad. Percy's real father has been out of the picture since Percy was a little boy. Paul was the principal at one of Percy's old schools. He met Sally during a conference a couple years ago and they immediately hit it off. They got married a few months ago, but decided not to go on a honeymoon until the summer. As if on cue, Paul walks through the door.


	2. On the Road to Camp

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters because I'm a 16 year old girl, not Rick Riordan.**

_As if on cue, Paul walks through the door._ He claps Percy on the shoulder. "Afternoon, Percy!" He walks up to Sally, giving her a kiss. Percy looks away. "Hi, honey."

"Hello, Paul," she greets him with a smile.

He turns to Percy. "So, Percy, are you ready for camp?"

"Ready a I'll ever be," he replies, turning back to Paul.

"I'm sure you'll meet some people like you. It'll be an entirely different experience for you, but there's no reason to worry about it."

"I have a hard time making friends. Blowing up every school I go to isn't very inviting.

Paul gives him a small smile. "I know it's hard, but I had the same problem when I was in high school."

Percy knits his eyebrows together. "Really?" Paul nods. "Well, what changed?"

Paul smiles. "I don't know really. I met some people my senior year in high school and we've kept in contact ever since. The friends you make when you're an adult seem to stay with you longer than when you're a young kid."

Percy frowns. "Great. That means I won't even have Grover later in life."

Paul and Sally smile sympathetically. "You're over-thinking this, Percy. I bet you'll make plenty of friends soon. You may even get-"

Percy interrupts him. "Don't say I might even get a girlfriend. Mom beat you to it earlier this morning. Girls avoid me like I have a disease."

"Now it's time for you to turn over a new leaf," Paul tells him. Percy's look of confusion clearly states that he didn't understand what Paul had just said. "Never mind. Anyway, I have to finish packing so we can leave soon. Percy, just try and think about what I said."

Paul leaves the room, heading towards his bedroom. Percy goes back to the living room and slips on his pair of Vans. Sally finishes up in the kitchen as Percy flops onto the couch. A few minutes later, Sally goes to the bedroom to retrieve her things as well. Percy remains lounging on the couch, tapping his fingers on the cushion. What seemed like hours later to Percy, his parents return to the living room, dragging their suitcases behind them.

"Ready?" Sally asks her son.

"Yep," he answers, hopping up off the couch.

The small family takes all their luggage and packs them into the trunk of Paul's car. Percy slides into the back as Paul takes the driver's seat and Sally takes the passenger seat. As they go through the busy streets of Manhattan, they are all silent. Finally when they reach the outskirts of the city, Percy asks his mom a question.

"So, Mom, what is the name of this camp?"

She clears her throat, sharing a quick look with Paul that goes unnoticed by Percy. "Camp Half-Blood."

"Half-Blood?" he asks confused.

"Yeah."

"Why is it called Camp Half-Blood? What does the Half-Blood part mean?"

She takes a deep breath. "Percy, this is hard to explain, but it has to do with your father." He looks away. "You know about Greek mythology and your namesake, right?"

Still looking out the window, he says, "Yeah. Zeus had a son named Perseus and he was this big hero because he chopped off Medusa's head. I remember learning that in Mr. Brunner's class."

"Good. Now, do you know the term that relates to Perseus being a son of Zeus?" she asks him.

"A demigod. What does this have to do with my dad and this camp?"

The other two both sigh. _Percy can really be dense. May the gods help him when a girl starts flirting with him. _Sally thinks to herself.

"Percy, your dad is a Greek god," Paul tells him.

"A god? Are you kidding me? Mom, he can't be serious! Tell me the truth."

"Your father _is_ a god. That's why he couldn't stay and help take care of you. Gods aren't allowed to spend too much time with their kids."

Percy turns to the window again. "That's a lot to process. I always thought he ran out on us. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I thought you could take it a little easier if you were older. I figured you were old enough to hear it now," she replies.

"Which god is he?"

"I think it's best if you figure out the rest on your own. Camp Half-Blood is a place for people like you, more or less. You'll soon find out everything. We're almost there."

Percy looks in the direction his mother is looking, but sees nothing. All he can see is a hill and woods as far as the human eye can see. "Where is it?"

"Paul, pull over right there," Sally tells her husband, pointing to the side of the road.

He pulls over and puts the car in park. He and Sally get out of the car, so Percy decides to follow. Paul takes Percy's suitcase out of the trunk and hands it to him. He gives Percy a man hug and a smile before getting back into the car.

"Percy follow me," Sally says. He does as he is told and begins following his mother into the shadowy forest.

_Where is she going? _Percy wonders.

He soon finds out that she is leading him to an entrance that reads "στρατόπεδο του αίματος μισο" Surprisingly, Percy is able to make out that it says "Camp Half-Blood". The entrance was hidden by the trees so you couldn't see it from the road. Vines from the surrounding plants are wrapped around the two pillar-looking columns that hold the sign up. It is pearly white, but looks gray in the shadows caused by the canopy overhead.

"We're here," Sally says, stopping in front of the tall sign.

Percy looks around but doesn't see anything other than the trees and the sign. "Where's the camp? All I see is this sign."

"It's hidden from all mortals and monsters. Demigods and other half-bloods can enter the camp. You can't see the camp until you pass over the border. A strong, magical boundary protects the camp from intruders," she explains.

"Oh, that's cool!" he exclaims.

"You'll really like camp. I don't know much about it, but I know enough to be able to tell you that you'll enjoy being here." Sally steps forward and hugs Percy. "I'll miss you so much, Percy, but our flight leaves in about two hours, so we have to go soon. Traffic is terrible in the city."

"I know. I'll miss you too, Mom."

He steps out of her embrace and heads toward the entrance. He looks through and still sees more woods. No signs of the camp anywhere. He turns back around, waving at Sally. She waves back and smiles. Percy turns to the gateway and steps through to the other side.


	3. A Cold Welcome

Once Percy steps through the entrance he is met with an amazing sight; the forest has transformed into a lush green clearing. A crystal clear blue lake with a sandy beach can be seen farther in the distance. From his place on top of the hill, Percy has a perfect view of everything below.

Cabins of all different shapes, sizes, and colors form a circle in the middle of the clearing. A huge rock climbing wall is several hundred feet from the cabins. An open-sided pavilion is on one side of the circle of cabins. What looks to be stables is far off to one side near the woods. A large, two-story farmhouse is sitting near the bottom of the hill. Strawberry fields next to a dirt road, leading back to the main highway, is on the far side of the farmhouse.

Several kids of all different ages are running around, going opposite directions. Very few of them have anything in common with each other, but they all seem to be wearing the exact same bright orange t-shirt. As Percy heads down the hill he can tell that the shirts have words on them but, with his dyslexia he can't read what they say. He assumes it has something to do with the camp.

Percy surveys the area again now that he's closer to everything. Everything is so beautiful at the camp no matter what point of view you have of it. Several large shadows appear from overhead so Percy looks up and stumbles backwards. Different breeds of beautiful horses are flying through the air, using their feathery wings. He continues watching them, trying to remember what the winged horses are called when he runs smack dab into someone. He turns around to face the person.

"Watch where you're going!" the person yells at him.

She has long, stringy brown hair and the brown eyes of a pig, which are currently glaring at Percy. She's quite a bit taller than he is, so he has to look up to see her face (not that he wants to, considering the angry sneer on her face). She also has a rather stocky build for a girl. Percy's eyes fixate on the long spear that's clenched in her right hand, hoping she doesn't plan on running him through with it.

"So, you're a newbie! No wonder you were stupid enough to run into me!"

A small group of similar-looking campers laugh behind the large girl. Percy instantly knows that they all have to be related in some way. The girl in front of him sneers again and clenches her fist tighter around her spear, causing Percy to gulp. With her free hand, she grips the collar of his shirt and yanks him up to look him in the eye.

"I'm going to make you pay for running into me, punk!" She growls in his face, making him shrink back away from her.

"Clarisse!" A gruff voice booms over the clearing, silencing all the kids.

Everyone looks in the direction of the speaker as the large girl, who Percy assumes is Clarisse, throws Percy hard onto the ground. He stays where he is, looking the sane direction as everyone else. A tall figure that looks like a man on horseback is coming closer. When the figure gets closer, Percy can see that it's not a horseman. In fact, it's a combination of man and horse. Percy remembers Mr. Brunner telling his class that the hybrid is called a centaur. Oddly enough, when the centaur is within a few feet of Percy, he can see that _is_ Mr. Brunner.

Mr. Brunner's horse half is a white stallion with a long, white tail. For some unknown reason, Percy automatically knows that the horse half is an Arabian. The human part is where the horse's head and neck should be. Mr. Brunner has curly brown hair with a matching beard and soft brown eyes. His face is etched with decades worth of worry lines.

"Percy, it's nice to see you," he greets the bewildered boy.

"Mr. Brunner?" Percy asks.

He nods. "Here, I'm known as Chiron."

"Chiron? Oh, I remember you teaching us about...you. But how-"

Chiron cuts him off. "Later," he tells him, turning to the crowd that has gathered around to watch. "Campers, return to your camp activities. Grover, come over here."

_Grover? _Percy asks himself, looking around for his best friend. _Where?_

"I'm here, Chiron!" A familiar voice calls out from the midst of the dispersing crowd.

Percy turns around and, sure enough, Grover is squeezing out of the mass of people. Grover has curly brown hair that is usually tucked under a baseball cap and brown eyes. He has a gangly figure and usually walks with a strange gait, but now Percy knows why. Grover is half goat. Percy guesses that his goat legs were hidden under the baggy pants that Grover always wears.

"Grover, what are you doing here?" Percy asks his friend.

"Yo, Percy! I come here almost every summer."

Percy looks confused. "Why don't you look surprised to see me?"

"Chiron and I knew you were a demigod a long time ago, so we knew you'd be here sooner or later," he answers.

"Oh." Grover helps Percy up off the ground. "Thanks, man. Anyone else I know come here?"

"Nope. Just me and Chiron," Grover replies before turning to Chiron. "I can show Percy around the camp."

"That would be helpful, Grover. Thank you. And, Percy, I'll see you at lunch. We have meals a little later than most other people normally would," Chiron says.

"Oh, okay. Cool."

Chiron gives them a smile. "Now, if you two would be please excuse me, I have a class to teach." He gallops off, leaving Percy and Grover as they start heading towards the cabins.

**Sorry it took a few days to update. I've just had so much homework this week that I haven't been able to have very much free time. I will try to update my chapters as fast as possible. And thanks to my readers out there! Review what you think so far if you want. I'll update regardless of how many reviews I receive.**


	4. The Mysterious Voice

"C'mon, Perce. I'll show you to your cabin first. You'll be staying in the Hermes cabin until you're claimed, so follow me." Grover tells Percy.

They walk over the camp grounds at a rather slow pace so Percy has a chance to survey everything. Several campers stare as they walk by and Percy notices that some of them turn to each other, whispering as they get farther away. Percy trips over his own feet, nearly falling flat on his face in the middle of the camp. He thinks he hears someone laugh to his right so he turns to look but doesn't see anyone. The people who were watching them returned to their camp activities even though Chiron had told them to do so before.

Thinking he was just hearing things, Percy says to himself, _Probably just the wind._

The two continue walking towards a cabin. Percy wonders which one they'll stop at because they keep passing cabin after cabin. Finally, they reach a cabin that looks like any other. Near the back, it looks as if it has been vandalized a few times. The steps creak as they head inside. A bunch of campers that look a lot alike are standing around, staring at them with wide-eyes. They all have mischievous looks on their faces and ears that come up to a slight point, making them look elvish.

"Percy, welcome to the Hermes cabin! Don't leave anything unattended or it will get stolen," Grover informs Percy.

"It's not like I have anything worth stealing anyway," he replies.

The other campers slightly laugh but, still look as if they want to search through Percy's suitcase in case he was bluffing. A kid near the rear of the group of Hermes campers asks a very good question that Percy has absolutely no idea how to answer.

"Regular or undetermined?"

"Uh..." Percy answers, obviously confused.

_Undetermined._ A voice tells him.

He looks around in search of the voice but no one had said anything. They are all looking directly at him, waiting for an answer. None of them even acknowledge that someone had just spoken. Percy doesn't have very many options so he opts to trust the voice.

"I, uh, I guess I'm undetermined." Percy tells them. _Whatever that means, _he says to himself.

Several of the campers groan. _The feeling is mutual, _Percy grumbles inside his head. _It's not like I wanna be here in the first place._ He puts his suitcase down and walks out the door, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yo, Percy! Wait up!" Grover calls out from behind him.

Percy continues walking but Grover catches up to him within seconds since he has long goat legs. He trots up beside Percy and matches his stride. Neither of them utter a single word as they walk over the camp grounds. To Percy's bewilderment, they see a few campers sparring with swords. He cannot believe that they are using actual swords that can be used to kill each other with. Other campers are fighting training dummies not too far away. Some are also having target practice, using bows and arrows.

"So are we being trained to kill or what?" Percy asks Grover.

He laughs. "No, man. We are being trained for survival."

"Survival? Against what?"

"Monsters and anything else that tries to hurt us. We have to be trained to fight or we'll die. Or, I guess, you'll die. Satyrs usually aren't in the heat of battle unless it's absolutely necessary, but demigods are constantly being attacked." Grover tells him grimly.

"Great. So, I'll probably die within the next week."

"Monsters can't get inside the boundaries unless someone summons them," he tries to reassure his friend.

"So? I can still find another way to get killed."

"Welcome to the world of being a demigod."

Percy groans. "What if I don't want to be a demigod? This isn't my world! My world is going to high school so I can get bullied and shunned by everyone, then going home. That's it. It has nothing to do with monsters trying to kill me!" Percy yells.

_Calm down! You're a part of this world now whether you like it or not! _He hears a voice whisper-yell in his ear.

He groans again. "And what is with this voice I keep hearing?!"

Grover raises his eyebrows in question. "What voice?"

"I don't know. I just keep hearing some voice talking to me, but just a few seconds ago it was yelling at me. Is that normal?"

Grover successfully hides a grin that is desperately trying to spread on his face. "I've never heard of anyone hearing voices before, so this is new to me."

"Great! So does that mean I'm going crazy?" Percy asks.

_You're not crazy, Percy. _The voice tells him. Percy feels as if someone is standing right next to him, but there is no one other than Grover.

"No, you're not crazy. You just need to calm down. What does the voice say exactly?" Grover asks him.

"It just did it again when I asked if I'm going crazy. It said I'm not crazy. It even knows my name and earlier it told me that I'm undetermined. What does that even mean?!"

_It means that you don't know who your parent is yet. If you were a regular in the Hermes cabin, then you'd be a son of Hermes. _The voice explains.

"Tell me you heard that!" Percy says.

"Heard what, Percy?"

"The voice! You didn't hear it?" Percy asks incredulously.

"Nope. Maybe only you can hear it. Who's to say?" Grover tells him, shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess. What should I do if this keeps happening though?" he asks him.

"Listen to it. Maybe the voice will guide you in the right direction." Percy gives him a look, thinking that Grover knows more than he's letting on but, decides not to question him. "Hey, I know what will get your mind off the voice!"

"What?" Percy asks.

"Playing Capture the Flag!" Grover exclaims.

"What's Capture the Flag?"

"Oh, it's just everyone's favorite camp activity! The only sad part is that satyrs aren't allowed to play; only demigods. Anyway, you are split up into two teams, separated by cabins. Each team has either a blue flag or a red flag. The rules are easy: take the other team's flag back to your side without getting killed and no maiming is allowed." Grover explains.

"Sounds like fun!" Percy exclaims sarcastically.

"Trust me. You'll like it. We just have to get you some armor and a weapon first. We play it several times during the summer too. You're hardly ever out on the exact same team. Just hope that you're not on the team that is against the Athena and Ares kids because then you might as well already consider the game to be over. If they are put on the same team, they automatically win for several reasons."

"What are the reasons?"

Grover smiles. "You'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully, you won't have to find out sooner rather than later. If you do, well, good luck, Percy! On a different note, let's head to the pavilion. We'll be eating soon. We play Capture the Flag after lunch."

"Okay. Then, let's go." Percy replies.

The two friends head into the dining pavilion to join the other campers, who are coming in from their activities. The pavilion is basically a huge slab of perfectly cut and designed white marble flooring covered with a Laconian roof, which is held up by Greek Corinthian columns. Long Montego dining tables with benches on either side fill the pavilion. A smaller table is on one side near the front. A fire brazier is on one side of the table. On the other side of the smaller table there is a huge, steaming food bar. The smell of the food is enough to make a person's mouth water.

Grover leads Percy over to a long picnic table on the other side of the room. "Ερμής" is engraved near the end of the table and Percy's brain automatically translates it to say "Hermes". He assumes that each cabin is assigned a certain table, considering that this particular table has Hermes's name on it. He looks around and notices that all the other tables have the other gods's names engraved into them as well.

"So, where do you sit?" Percy asks Grover.

"Wherever I want, so I'll sit with you." he tells him.

Percy smiles, glad that he'll have someone to talk to that he knows. "Cool!"

Grover smiles back as they take a seat across from each other at the Hermes table. The other campers file in and take seats at their respective tables. Within minutes, the pavilion is filled with the sounds of laughter and talking. Grover leans closer to Percy so he can talk to him without having to yell over everyone else.

"Normally you will come in with your cabin all at once but, since you were with me you didn't have to." Grover tells Percy.

"Oh, okay." He looks around at the other campers. "I feel so out of place. Everyone knows everyone else except for me. I also don't have an orange shirt like they do."

Grover smiles. "That's okay, Perce. You'll get to know everyone eventually. You'll also get your Camp Half-Blood shirt tomorrow. No worries."

Percy half smiles. "Okay. I hope you're right."

Grover just nods as Chiron comes to the front of the pavilion by the smaller table. "Afternoon, campers! I have an announcement to make!"

Everyone gets quiet so they can hear him. _He must be really respected here, _Percy says to himself. _Nobody gets that quiet that fast at school for any of our teachers._

"We have a new camper here with us." Chiron tells the campers and everyone starts looking for this new camper. Their eyes fall on Percy at the Hermes table.

"His name is Percy Jackson. He is undetermined so he has been temporarily placed with the Hermes campers like all the other undetermined. Please try to make him feel welcome," he says, looking directly at Clarisse at the Ares table. She scowls, knowing he was talking to her specifically.

"On a different note, we will be playing Capture the Flag after we finish eating." All the campers erupt into cheers. Chiron continues after they all stop cheering. "The teams will be determined as soon as Mr. D and I have figured it out. We will let you all know as soon as possible. Now, everyone enjoy your lunch."

Percy turns back to Grover as the other campers line up to get their food. "Who's Mr. D?" he asks.

"Dionysus, the god of wine. He's up there." Grover tells him, nodding towards the small table.

Percy looks in that direction and sees a man with black hair and purple eyes, sitting at the table next to where Chiron is standing. He has a Coke can in his hand and looks as if he would rather be anywhere but at the camp. The thing that stands out the most is his yellow, leopard-print shirt. As he talks to Chiron, he just keeps waving his free hand around as if he doesn't care one way or the other about anything. Percy assumes that they are talking about the Capture the Flag teams.

"Why is he here? Shouldn't he be with the other gods?" Percy asks.

"Yeah, he should be but, Zeus sentenced him here as punishment for chasing after nymphs, which are strictly off limits for him."

"Oh, well... He doesn't look like a god to me. I don't think I ever pictured any of the, looking like that before." Percy says.

"Yeah, I know. Me neither. He hates it here too. He doesn't even take the chance to learn any of our names. He always gets them wrong. He could do that on purpose but, no one knows for sure." Grover says, looking around. "Come on, let's go get some food. The line's smaller now."

The two get up, joining the now smaller line of campers, who are waiting to get their food as well. A few minutes later, Percy and Grover return to their table with their lunches. Grover has a plate stacked with empty aluminum cans. Percy actually has real food on his plate. All the campers eat their food, chatting to each other for several minutes when Chiron comes to the front of them again. Everyone stops talking and waits to hear what h has to say.

"Alright, campers!" Chiron says. "The Capture the Flag teams have been assigned. The blue team consists of Hermes, Dionysus, and Aphrodite. The red team will be Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus, and Athena. The teams may seem a little unfair but, I assure you, there will be an equal chance for either of the two teams to win. You have thirty minutes to get ready! So, everyone suit up and get into your positions!"

Everyone cheers and gets up with their plates. One by one, they dump the contents of their plates into the fire and stacks the empty plates onto the table next to the brazier. _What are they doing?_ Percy wonders.

"You put the rest of your food in the fire for your godly parent," Grover tells Percy as if he read his mind. "You say a prayer to them and if they like what you gave them, then they supposedly help you during the fight."

"What if I don't know who my parent is?"

Grover tells him, "The only thing you can do is just direct your prayer to all the gods, I guess."

"Okay. Who do you pray to?"

"Pan, god of the wild!" he tells him, excitedly.

"Oh, cool."

They walk up to the fire and each say a silent prayer. Percy does as Grover suggested and directs his prayer to all the gods, hoping that they hear him. He could use all the help he can get in this fight, having not ever had to use any weapons before. They put their plates down and follow the rest of the campers towards the woods to begin Percy's first and certainly not last game of Capture the Flag.

**I made this chapter longer than the others thanks to Chameleon101's request. Thanks to everyone who is reading my story! R&R!**


	5. Capture the Flag

The campers begin putting on their armor and getting their weapons. Half of the campers put on helmets with blue plumes while the other half put on helmets with red plumes on them. The helmets cover the entire face, leaving small empty spaces for the eyes **(URL for picture on Profile.) **Grover helps Percy strap his breastplate -which weighs at least half as much as he does- onto his chest. Grover leads Percy over to the armory to get any weapon of his choice. Percy looks through all the different types of weapons but chooses a fairly plain, unbalanced sword **(URL for picture on Profile)**.

They head back to the main fighting area. Grover waits on the sidelines with Chiron as the teams take their positions on either side of the creek. Percy's team decides to put him on the defense so he can guard the flag. Chiron blows a loud horn, signaling the game to begin. Both of the team's offense run to the opposite sides of the creek to try and steal the other team's flag.

As the rest of his teammates run off in search of the red team's flag, Percy stands alone rooted in one spot. His shifts his weight from one foot to the other due to his ADHD acting up again. Twenty minutes pass without a single person from either team coming into his line of sight. Percy considers sitting down to pick at the grass or just to lie on the ground but decides to examine the flag instead.

The flag is royal blue with an intricate pattern sewn into it with golden-yellow thread. "συλλάβει τη σημαία" is also sewn into the middle of the banner in big letters with the golden thread. He guesses that they only use the flags for Capture the Flag, considering that that is what his brain translates the Greek words to say. He wishes he could see the other flag but unfortunately he is stuck on guard duty. Percy wonders what the flag is made out of because it looks like some kind of thick silk material. As he goes to touch it, the flag disappears in thin air.

_What the heck?_ He asks himself, surprised out of his mind.

He waves his hand through the spot where the flag was a few seconds earlier to see if it was like some David Copperfield trick. He feels nothing but air. He looks at the spot and waves his hand through the air again, double-checking to make sure there really isn't anything there. He squints his eyes to see if he can see anything. Still nothing. Absolutely nothing but air. It's almost as if the flag was never there.

_Percy._ A voice is carried in the breeze, reaching the ears of the bewildered boy.

He turns around, thinking it's one of his teammates. No one is there. It's just like all the other times when he kept hearing a voice. He scans the entire area as far as he can but, there is no sign of anyone. No silhouettes, no shadows, nothing. Just that voice. He begins thinking that maybe the camp is haunted or that he's going crazy. That could be the real reason his mom sent him to the camp and he's just hallucinating. None of this is real. Soft laughter rings in his ears.

Percy swings his sword around aimlessly. "Where are you? Show yourself!" he demands.

Amused laughter comes from behind him so he whirls around. His sword slices through the air and clangs against an invisible weapon. Before he knows what's happening, Percy's sword is twisted from his hand. It clatters onto the ground several feet away, skidding to a stop by the edge of the creek. His mouth gapes open as he looks around, wide-eyed.

"Where are you?!" he yells again.

_That's for me to know... _the voice whispers in his ear. He can feel the warm breath of a person tickling his cheek. He goes rigid and turns to his left but, once again, sees no one.

_And for you to find out. _The voice sings, sounding farther away and far out of Percy's reach.

Percy runs towards the creek and crouches down to pick up his sword. When he stands back upright, Clarisse and her posse emerge from the shadows of the forest. He can barely tell them apart except for the fact that Clarisse is much bigger and more intimidating than the others. He looks them over, noticing that he is outnumbered.

"Hey, look. I don't think eight to one is very fair." Percy tells them.

Clarisse's signature sneer makes an appearance from under her helmet. "All's fair when it comes to war!" she yells. Her followers cheer in agreement, raising their weapons.

"Isn't it supposed to be 'All is fair in love _and_ war'?" he asks.

"Who cares about love! Do I look like a daughter of Aphrodite to you?" Clarisse asks rhetorically.

"Not with a face like that," Percy mutters under his breath.

Clarisse's posse snickers but are quickly silenced with a death glare from their leader. She turns her glare to Percy. He gulps, immediately realizing his stupid mistake. Clarisse twirls her long spear in her right hand and it sparks. Percy's eyes widen, locking onto the deadly weapon. _Great, _Percy thinks. _She has an electric spear. Not only will she kill me but she's also going to electrocute me too._

Clarisse takes a menacing step closer to Percy. "You are so dead. i was just going to teach you for running into me. Now, you're really going to pay!"

Percy stumbles backwards as she gets closer. She towers over him, pointing the spearhead at his chest. She draws her arm back to thrust the spear into his heart so Percy looks away, squeezing his eyes shut. Breathing heavily, he slowly opens his eyes and turns back to Clarisse. She's still in the same position as she was before but looks as if she's struggling to move her arm. The others look at her like she's insane.

"Clarisse!" One of them yells. "What are you doing? Kill him!"

Clarisse grunts. "I...can't move! Someone's holding onto my spear!" She yells in frustration. "Let go!"

Another minute of Clarisse fighting with herself goes by when, suddenly, her right knee gives out. She collapses to the ground and her electric spear falls out of her hand. It rolls several feet as if someone kicked it away. The others stand there astonished, not knowing what had just happened. The horn sounds in the distance, signaling that the game is over. The rest of the campers along with Grover and Chiron come running.

Chiron examines the scene. "Nice job defending yourself, Percy. Must have taken a lot of courage and strength to fight off Clarisse. I think they were just a distraction, I'm afraid. Your team lost despite your best efforts to protect the flag." he tells him.

"But, Chiron-" Percy says, getting cut off by one of his teammates.

"Percy, why weren't you watching the flag? We could've won! We were almost to the flag when the horn went off!"

"But-"

Another camper adds, "Yeah, Percy! You ruined it for us!" All his other team members glare at him.

His face turns bright red out of anger. The creek water starts moving around rapidly, looking more like a river than a creek. "It's not my fault!" he bursts out. Everyone looks at him with now curious expressions, waiting to hear what he has to say. "The flag just disappeared. I was looking right at it!"

The campers on the red team smile at each other knowingly as the blue team groans. Percy just looks at them, confused. He has no idea what is going on. _Maybe this isn't the first time that's happened._ He says to himself.

"Chiron!" A blue soldier whines. "This so unfair! They always have the advantage!"

Grover laughs, knowing what's going on. Percy just looks even more confused than before. "What are you talking about?" he asks.

Chiron slightly smiles, shaking his head. "Annabeth."

_Annabeth? Who's Annabeth? _Percy wonders.

In the next instance, a girl materializes directly in front of Percy. She's wearing the orange camp t-shirt, jean shorts, black and white Converse All-Stars, and is clutching a New York Yankees cap in her hand. A golden dagger is strapped to her waist but that's not the most intimidating thing about her. She has chosen not to wear any armor, showing that she has total confidence that she wouldn't get hurt. As far as Percy can see, she doesn't have so much as a single scratch on her. He can tell that she is very confident and proud but not to the point where it makes her egotistical or conceited.

Every visible inch of her body is tanned from being in the sun every day. Long, blond hair thrown into a messy ponytail is curled around her shoulder. The feature that captures Percy's attention immediately is her eyes; they are such a startling gray that reminds him of the clouds right before a strong storm hits. She turns her gaze to him and he feels like she's looking straight through him. She smiles at him, causing Percy's heart to flutter in his chest. He knows that he's staring at her but he can't help himself. He knows that she can see him staring as well. Her smile fades into a smirk and she raises an eyebrow.

_Wonder who her parent is? _Percy asks himself. _Aphrodite? Clarisse definitely isn't a daughter of Aphrodite. Maybe she's Ares._

She sticks her hand out. "Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."

_Whoops. Maybe I got my mythology wrong. Was Athena the goddess of beauty? I was for sure it Aphrodite. I should pay attention at school more. Like that'll happen. Oh, she introduced herself and here I am, looking like an idiot._

He takes her hand, shaking it. "Percy Jackson. I'm-"

"Undetermined," Annabeth finishes.

"How'd you know?"

She rolls her eyes, half smiling. "Chiron introduced you during lunch."

_Wow. Way to look even stupider, Percy. If that's even possible. _"So, Athena is the goddess of-"

"Wisdom, philosophy, courage, battle strategy, the arts. Take your pick." she informs him.

_I was way off! _Percy tells himself.

Annabeth's teammates high-five her, laughing. Percy's teammates just hang their heads in shame. They glumly head back to the main part of camp, patting Percy's shoulder sympathetically as they pass by. The rest of them -including Annabeth- watch with pride. They are all smiling like this is a regular occurrence for them. Percy wonders if they have ever even lost a game of Capture the Flag before. The answer is quite evident as he watches all of the campers' expressions. Percy knows that if he ever plays Capture the Flag again, he wants to be on whatever team Annabeth is on because they will most certainly win no matter who else is on the team. He has no idea how she was able to do what she did but he determined to find out sooner rather than later.

**Would've updated sooner but, with Halloween right around the corner, I had too many things to do and not enough time to update the story until now. Thanks for hanging in there with me. R&R!**


	6. Yet Another Enigma

**Sorry it's been a while. School has been hectic the past week. I hardly have enough time to update either so please bare with me. Enjoy!**

As Percy watches his teammates walk off, Grover comes up behind him. "Hey, it's okay, man. No one can outsmart Annabeth. I doubt her own mother would be able to either."

"I didn't even know she was there. She can turn invisible?" Percy asks his friend.

"Of course not," Annabeth says, coming up behind them. "No one can turn invisible. My mother gave me this hat," she shows Percy the Yankees cap. "It has the magical ability to turn the wearer invisible. It can also turn everything he or she is holding invisible as well."

Percy thinks for a second. "So you-"

"Took the flag? Yes, I did. It was the most foolproof plan. My hat makes me undetectable so no one can find me. Not even the people who have known me for years and are used to my trick." Annabeth smiles with pride.

Percy stares at her blankly, his eyebrows knitted together. "I don't think that's very fair."

Her smile fades. "Magical items are allowed as long as no one is severely injured. Anyway, all is fair in love, war, and Capture the Flag."

"You sound like Clarisse," he mumbles.

Her gray eyes darken as she glares at Percy. "Do _not_ compare me to Clarisse," she growls.

Percy swallows hard. "Okay. I'm sorry. I-I won't do it again."

"She thinks being a daughter of Ares makes her better than everyone else. She just hates me because I make her feel inferior due to the fact that she hasn't been able to beat me at anything once. She's just like her father, along with all the other children of Ares. She's narcissistic, vile, tenacious, and heartless!" Annabeth trails off, cursing in Greek.

Percy doesn't understand most of what she says because she has a much bigger vocabulary than he does. As she starts adding a few colorful words to describe the daughter of Ares, Percy decides to interrupt her. "Whoa, whoa! I can tell that Clarisse is...mean sometimes but, is she really everything you called her?"

"Yes! She's insufferable," she spits out. She takes a deep breath to try and calm herself. She closes her eyes and reopens them, looking relatively calm compared to the way she was seconds before. "I'm sorry, Percy. I didn't mean to snap. It's just that Clarisse really gets under my skin. She's harassed me ever since I got here. You can understand that, can't you?"

"Of course I understand. She tried to kill me earlier." Percy smiles. "I didn't know what most of the things you said anyway. I'm not the best with words."

Annabeth flashes him a smile that makes his knees feel weak. "Hey, nobody's perfect, right?"

_Some people are,_ Percy thinks, staring into Annabeth's gray eyes. _That was cheesy!_ He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. "Yeah. I-I guess not."

Someone next to Percy clears his throat. Reluctantly, Percy tears his eyes away from Annabeth's. He turns and sees Grover standing there awkwardly. Chiron and the red campers are all standing around, watching them. Percy's face heats up as he realizes that everyone noticed him staring at her. Annabeth smirks at him with no hint of embarrassment or any other emotions showing on her face.

_How can she not blush when it's obvious she knows I was staring at her? She's good. _Percy clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Uh, so Grover...are we going to continue with the tour?" he asks, coming up with an excuse to leave.

"Yeah, sure, Perce. Follow me." Grover shares a quick look with Annabeth before leading his best friend away.

Everybody watches the two leave. Clarisse -who is finally off the ground- is laughing at Percy's face. She shoves him when he walks by. Grover barely catches Percy before he falls to the dirt. He pulls him back up and they continue walking. Percy glances behind him, noticing that most of the campers are gone. The only ones left are Clarisse and her cronies, who are still laughing at him. Grover leads Percy all the way to the other side of the camp until the reach the beach. Percy plops onto the sand, putting his face in his hands.

"Are you okay, man?" Grover asks him.

Percy looks up at him. "That was embarrassing. I've been through worse but not with so many people watching."

"So what if you were caught staring? It's no big deal."

Percy groans. "It is too me."

"Look, it happens all the time. No worries. It'll all blow over by tomorrow." Grover reassures him. "This isn't like school. The people here are different. They've been through much worse than this. Annabeth won't care either. She's been through way worse before. It's not like it's a first for her anyway. Over the years all the newbies ended up staring at either her, the sons and daughters of Aphrodite, or Luke." Grover snaps his mouth shut.

"Who's Luke?" he asks.

Grover sighs. "It doesn't matter. He isn't here anymore. He left a long time ago."

"Why?"

"Percy, it doesn't matter," Grover repeats harsher than last time.

"Oh okay. So...what did you mean by Annabeth going through more than me staring at her?"

"She- You should ask her. It's not my place to tell you."

Percy frowns, not wanting to have to face her anytime soon. "Oh. I'll ask her later on."

"Tread carefully, Percy. Her past is a touchy subject."

"Thanks for the heads up," he thanks the young satyr.

Percy turns to the water. The orange-yellow sun is reflected off the sparkling, blue water. The waves lap at his tennis shoes. The cool water soaks into his socks, strangely comforting him. He leans back, holding himself up on his hands. He closes his eyes, relishing in the feel of the water washing over his feet. He just sits there for several minutes, enjoying the breeze blowing through his hair before he opens his eyes. He can see a pier in the distance. He stands up and starts heading towards it.

"What are you doing?"Grover asks, startling him.

"I'm going swimming." he replies without looking at his friend.

He continues, leaving Grover behind. It's like the water is calling to him. He walks to the middle of the long pier, the boards squeaking beneath his feet. He removes his shoes and socks, dropping them near his feet. He shrugs out of his shirt and throws it next to his garments. He stretches his arms and rolls his neck. He takes off across the pier and perfectly dives into the water. He swims around, surveying everything below.

Fish are darting about in large schools. Most of them are darker colors but are still beautiful. Anemone is growing on rocks closer to the bottom. Seaweed is growing up from the sandy bottom. None of the marine life seem disturbed by Percy's presence; they just continue along their way. Percy swims past several different kinds of fish and he finds out that he can name every single type that he sees. The seaweed tickles his legs as he goes deeper. He takes a seat on the bottom and the sand swirls around him.

Once the water clears again, Percy can see a girl watching him. She has really long, light brown hair with vines weaved into it, forming a band around her forehead and pointy ears like an elf. She's wearing a flowing, white dress and no shoes. It's like the water is swirling around her even though she isn't moving. She smiles at Percy and comes closer to him. He watches her, captivated by her elegance as she moves through the water. She stops once she gets closer to him and beckons him to her. He swims forward, going towards her. She turns and swims away.

_Wait!_

She doesn't stop; she speeds up. He swims after her, trying to catch her but he can't even get close. She just barely stares within his line of vision as she swims through the water with inhuman grace. He goes faster but doesn't seem to get any closer. He feels like he's been swimming forever when she disappears from sight. He stops and looks around. She's nowhere to be seen; it's as if she was just a figment of his imagination. He swims to the surface, finding himself back at the pier.

He quietly curses and pulls himself up onto the deck. He shakes his hair dry like a dog before heading back to his clothes. He senses another presence nearby so he looks up and meets the intense yet beautiful gray eyes belonging to a certain daughter of Athena. Percy swallows hard and breathes unevenly. No one has ever had this kind of effect on him until now. He guesses that he will have to talk to her now. His only other option would be to jump into the water and swim away but that would be too cowardly.

_Let's get this over and done with. _He takes a deep breath. "Hi."

She faintly smiles. "How long were you down there?" she asks, skipping the greeting.

_Wow, she gets to the point really fast. _"Uh, I don't know. Not too long after we finished Capture the Flag, I guess. Why?"

"Did you ever come up for air?" she asks him, her face expressionless.

He shakes his head. "I wasn't down there very long. It was just a few minutes, I think."

"Percy, Capture the Flag ended an hour ago. You couldn't have been down there for that long. Are you sure you didn't come up for air?"

He scrunches his eyebrows. "Yeah, I'm sure. It couldn't have been for an hour. It didn't feel like that long." He thinks for a second. "I guess the time flew while I was following that girl," he says mainly to himself, looking downwards.

She slightly tilts her head quizzically. "What girl?"

Percy looks up, meeting her eyes again. "Uh, there was this girl in the water."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "We've already established that. _Who_ was she?"

"I-I don't know. She wanted me to follow her and then she just disappeared. I tried to find her but I...didn't."

"Was she wearing a white, Greek dress? Did she have pointed ears?" she asks him.

"Yeah she did."

Annabeth groans. "That was a naiad."

"What's a naiad?"

She sighs. "A naiad is a type of nymph that resides in water, such as lakes and rivers. They are exceptionally flirtatious with male demigods, such as yourself. Just like when it comes to Aphrodite, men cannot resist because they are so enticing. They'll swim after the naiads until they die from either the lack of air or the inability to go back to the surface due to their severe fatigue."

Percy could barely keep up with everything she said. _Does she have to be so smart?_ It's a good thing that he was standing up or he probably would've dozed off. _She's worse than some of my teachers. At least they don't use big words like she does. _He hears her stop talking so he glances up. She's just standing there with her arms crossed, looking at him. He instantly knows that she knows he wasn't paying any attention.

"Were you even listening to anything I said?" she asks him, already knowing the answer.

_Might as well try and play dumb. _"Yeah, I was."

She rolls her eyes. "No you weren't. You don't think I can't tell when people aren't listening to me?"

He shrugs, not knowing what else to say. _She caught me. Dang daughter of Athena!_

"It happens all the time. I have two little brothers who never listened to me either."

"You have younger brothers?"

She stiffens. "They aren't blood-related. They are just my stepbrothers."

"On your dad's side or your mom's side?"

She looks at him strangely and rolls her eyes. "My dad's side, Percy. My mother is a goddess, remember?"

_That was a stupid question! Maybe I should switch hair colors with her. _"Oh, yeah. That was a dumb question."

She laughs.

"So, what are they like?"

She stops laughing, looking deadly serious. "I don't know. I'd rather not talk about my past."

Percy frowns. _And there's the touchy subject._ "Please?" he asks.

"It's a long story." she vaguely explains.

He shrugs. "I have time. Please?" he asks again.

Annabeth just looks at him, contemplating the situation. "Fine. First, I think you should put a shirt on."

Percy forgot that he was only in his shorts so he blushes. "Oh, right."

"Here," she says, handing him a shirt that he didn't even notice she was holding.

_Wow, I'm observant!_ He takes the shirt and sees that it's the orange camp t-shirt. He slips it over his head, finding that it's a perfect fit. "Thanks," he tells her.

The corners of her mouth lift so slightly that it almost looks like a trick of the light. "Come on."

She leads him to the edge of the dock and takes a seat, tucking her legs underneath her. Percy takes a seat next to her, dangling one leg over the side as he turns to look at her. She looks back at him and they just stay that way for a while before she breaks eye contact. She turns to look at the setting sun. Percy guesses that she's trying to avoid talking about her past. He decides to just let her take her time. If he rushes her, then she might pull away, choosing not to talk at all. Annabeth takes a deep breath and begins telling Percy the story about her past.


	7. Annabeth's Past

**Thanks to all my loyal readers! You guys are awesome :)**

Percy watches Annabeth as she takes yet another deep, shaky breath. She turns to look at him, shocking him by the amount of pain in her eyes. Her normal sparkling eyes are dull with sorrow. It's as if her entire face has fallen, making her look completely different from her usual proud composure.

"Are you sure you want to hear about my past?" she solemnly asks.

"Only if you wanna tell me," he replies.

She nods, sighing. "It started seventeen years ago. My dad was a history professor at the University of San Francisco. He was one of the best teachers there. And, naturally, Athena was attracted by his intelligence. The two would drink coffee and talk about who knows what at a cafe near the college. A couple months later, Athena told him who she was and that she only liked him for his brain. He was flattered that the goddess of wisdom acknowledged him out of the millions of people in the entire world.

Not too long after that, she went back to Olympus and never went back to him. When Dad finally stopped looking for her day after day, he found me in a cradle on his doorstep. There was a card with nothing more than my name and Athena's signature on it. At first he wasn't sure how I was his daughter because they never...well, you know?"

Percy nods after a few seconds and Annabeth continues.

"Anyway, he figured out that I was born, so to speak, in the same manner that Athena was. And-"

"Wait," he interrupts. "How were you born?"

"Didn't you ever pay attention to Chiron's lessons when he was your teacher?" she asks him.

He admits, "Not really."

She sighs, rolling her eyes. "Athena was born from Zeus's brain in full battle armor. As for myself, I was born from Athena's mind. All her children are born that way."

_Takes Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" to a whole new level. _Percy silently comments. "Oh okay. But, why doesn't she just do it like all normal people?"

"Athena is also one of the maiden goddesses, along with Lady Artemis. They never have kids the old-fashioned way. Artemis never has children period." she explains.

"Why not?"

"She has sworn to be a maiden for all eternity. She spends the majority of her time leading the Hunters and rebelling against the men of the world."

"Why?"

"Percy, you sound like a little kid!" she scolds. "She finds them good-for-nothing. Now stop asking so many questions!"

"Sorry. Continue."

"Once Dad figured out the reason why she left me with him, he started to enjoy having me around. To the university's dismay, he took time off to raise me. He'd read to me every night until I was old enough to read to him. We did everything together until he met _her._" She spits out that one small word with so much venom that Percy would hate to be whoever "she" is.

He's about to ask who "she" is but decides against it, seeing how dangerously dark her eyes have become. They look even more like storm clouds than they did before.

"Her name is Helen. She's my stepmother. She started dating my dad when I was three. Two years later, she moved in with us and they got married. She brought her twin terrors, Matthew and Bobby, with her. Monsters started attacking me when I was six because Dad told me I was a demigod. As soon as you know you're a demigod you're put into a load of danger. Helen was afraid that her children would get injured so she wanted nothing to do with me. Dad sided with her over me. I felt unloved so I ran away from home. I was only seven years old. Seven! Can you believe that?"

"No, I-I can't. You were only a little kid. Your past _was_ horrible." Percy tells her.

"It gets worse."

"Really? How?"

"I accidentally ran across the lair belonging to a cyclops. Let me just tell you that he was very unhappy. to say the least. I'm lucky I made it out alive. I wouldn't have if it wasn't for..." She pauses, barely able to continue. "If it wasn't for..." She shakes her head, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent the tears from flowing. She turns her head away so Percy won't see her about to cry.

"Luke?" Percy asks.

Annabeth's head whips back around to face Percy. "What do you know about Luke?" she asks, leaning closer to Percy.

"N-nothing. Grover mentioned him earlier. I just guessed that's who you were talking about. I-I promise!"

Her face softens. "Oh, okay. Well, that was a good guess. It wasn't just Luke who saved me. Thalia was there as well."

"Who's Thalia?" he asks.

"Daughter of Zeus and more recently a Hunter of Artemis. It's thanks to her that we have a protective barrier around the camp. Zeus was impressed by her fighting skills while she was trying to protect the camp from a pack of hellhounds so, he blessed the largest pine tree in the woods. It is where the boundary begins and it's now know as Thalia's Pine."

"Where is she now?"

She shrugs. "I'm not sure. She's with Artemis and the other Hunters somewhere."

"Oh. So, is there more to your story?"

Annabeth sighs once more. "Unfortunately, yes there is. Back at the cyclops' lair, Luke stabbed the cyclops in the back of the knee. We started running to get away when the cyclops blocked our path. He was just a bit faster than we were. Luke pushed m out of the way and ended up getting backed into a corner with no way to escape. Luckily for him, I found a dagger laying in the dirt next to a bunch of junk and I ran to help him. I ended up stabbing the cyclops in the foot. We were able to get away and Thalia was waiting outside. We started running together.

I was seven then. Thalia and Luke were fourteen. Thalia is fifteen now. Becoming a Hunter made her immortal so she doesn't age or become ill. Luke is twenty three now."

"What happened to Luke?"

Annabeth's expression hardens. "He's missing. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less anymore. He betrayed us. Thalia hates him because he was supposed to watch over me since she couldn't, being a Hunter. He's against all the gods: his father, Hermes, most of all."

She tightens her mouth, gritting her teeth. "He wants to overthrow the gods. He thinks that they have ruled long ago. He sided with the titans, who also want to take over as well. When the titans and the gods go to war, I'll be forced to fight against Luke and I won't hesitate to kill him if I have to. He wouldn't try to harm me in any way because he wouldn't have the guts."

"Wow," he breathes out.

"Yeah. First my dad and then Luke." She looks Percy directly in the eye. "I swear to the gods if you do anything after I've told you all this, you'll be sorry!" she threatens.

Percy gulps. "I'd never do that. I can promise you that much. Cross my heart and hope to die if I do."

She smiles. "Good. I'm glad. You'd rather have me kill you than Thalia. If she got to you before I could, then she'd make you suffer."

"G-good to know."

Annabeth's smile widens, making Percy's fear automatically disappear. She playfully elbows him. "So, do you want to head back to camp? I can teach you how to fight with a sword or you can try your hand at archery."

Percy smiles back, laughing. "Sure. I've tried to use a bow and arrows before but it didn't work out very well. I almost shot someone in the back of the head and I'm always way off target. Maybe I can try a sword?"

"Might as well try. Let's see how good of a swordsman you are."

He smiles again. "Sounds good to me!"

"I bet you can't beat me." she says teasingly.

He laughs. "I know I can't beat you. I've never actually seen you fight before but I can imagine that you're really good. Your mother _is _the goddess of battle strategy."

She smiles. "And don't you ever forget it!"

He just laughs. _I won't forget. If I do, she'd kick my butt. _That _I'm sure of._

She stands up and offers Percy a hand up. He takes it and she helps pull him up. He holds onto her hand a little longer than necessary so she gives him a look. He reluctantly lets go of her hand and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. Once again, he can't believe he did something so stupid. _Oh well. She doesn't seem mad so I think I'm in the clear._ She smiles and starts walking off the pier. He follows her back to the main part of camp, thinking that maybe for once everything would turn out okay. Little does he know that everything is about to change and not necessarily for the better.

**Here's another quick update for you guys! :) It's a little bit shorter than the previous ones but I think it's good enough. Let me know what you think! Do you like it, hate it, or don't really care? I need everyone's opinion on an idea: Do you think Luke should make an appearance in the story somewhere? Thalia will be in it later on as well. R&R!**


	8. Annabeth Knows

**Sorry it has been so long. I'm unable to get online very often so it may take a while for me to update so bear with me. I'm glad so many of you enjoy my story! Thanks for reading!**

Annabeth Chase has always been anything but weak and she was always considered to be relatively smart, which was the understatement of the century. Even so, she nearly broke down in front of a boy she barely knows and she still can't figure out the reasons behind why she revealed her past to him in the first place.

Since she discovered that Percy could stay underwater for about an hour, she has been contemplating the idea of who his godly father could be. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't know which parent is mortal but she assumes it's his mother. If Percy's father is who Annabeth thinks it is, then a lot of things are going to change. She decides to ask to ask Percy about his parents to see how much he knows.

She turns to ask but stops herself. His eyebrows are furrowed in thought; his mouth a flat line. His messy, raven black hair is partially covering his sea green eyes, hiding his thoughts from her. He's so lost in his thoughts that he nearly bumps into many other campers without even noticing. They all glare at him as they jump out of his way.

Annabeth draws in a breath and asks a different question. "Are you okay?"

He doesn't reply. He looks as if he didn't even register her voice.

"Percy?" she tries again.

No answer.

Sh stops walking and grabs his forearm really hard. H turns towards her, looking at her blankly. His eyes come into focus on her face, looking into her eyes before looking down at her hand gripping his arm.

"I'm sorry." He looks up again. "Were you talking to me?" he asks, clearly confused.

She releases his arm, putting her hand on her hip. "Yes," she replies with more venom than she had intended. She mentally curses herself. She takes a deep breath, dropping her arms to her sides. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You just looked oblivious to everything around you. I was just wondering why."

He slightly tilts his head. "I was thinking but I'm fine."

"Good," she replies uncertainly. _It's time like these that I wish I could read minds. _"I don't want you to be spacing out while I'm trying to teach you to properly use a sword. You'd end up injuring yourself more than likely." She holds back a laugh as an image of Percy swinging his sword around like an idiot pops into his head.

He smiles. "I'll end up doing that anyway. I'm not very... Well, I'm clumsy to say the least."

She laughs. "Yeah, I noticed."

He furrows his eyebrows again. "When?"

_Oh, gods! Why couldn't I keep that to myself,_ Annabeth ask herself. _He can't know that I've been watching him. Why did Chiron have to make _me_ do it?_

"During Capture the Flag," she covers up.

Still looking slightly confused, he replies, "Oh, I guess that's true."

They slowly continue walking in silence towards the training area. A few minutes later, Annabeth decides it is as good a time as any to find out about Percy's family. "So, Percy?" He looks at her. "Tell me about yourself since you know all about my past."

"Not much to tell really. Grover is my only friend at school and pretty much everyone else bullies me." Annabeth's face automatically gives him a sympathetic expression. "I barely pass any of my classes. I have dyslexia and ADHD. The only good thing in my life is my family."

_Finally! Now we're getting somewhere._ Annabeth thinks happily.

"My dad left me and Mom when I was only a few months old. I don't even remember anything about him. Mom has always loved me enough for the both of them. She married my English teacher about a year or so ago and they are just now on their honeymoon," he explains.

"Do you have an idea who your dad is?" she quietly asks.

He shakes his head. "No clue."

"Do you have any special skills?"

"Not really... Well, I can swim faster than most normal people. Big deal though, right?"

_Oh gods! This is _not _good!_ She plasters a huge smile on her face to cover what she's truly feeling. "That's actually really cool."

He looks at her surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. Are you on the swim team?"

"You're kidding, right?" She shakes her head. "Why should I be?"

She rolls her eyes. _So naive._ "If you join the swim team, then you probably wouldn't be bullied as much for one."

"Are you sure?" he asks, his voice filled with uncertainty.

"Yes! Why do you think most of the stuck-up people are so popular?"

"Because everyone is afraid of them?" he tries.

"Maybe. What I'm trying to get at is that they are popular because they play sports and are a part of things. They aren't popular for just being there like a bump on a log."

Understanding finally find its way onto his face. "Oh, I guess you're right."

She smiles brightly. "I _am _right."

He grins back. "Yeah, because you're a daughter of Athena."

_That's not always a good thing. _"I guess that could contribute to the fact that I'm nearly always correct." _That makes me sound a little conceited. _"That doesn't mean I'm always right though."

"I wouldn't say that. You've been right so far," he tells her. "Aren't you supposed to know everything?"

"Not hardly. You want to talk about someone who is always right or knows everything? Look at my mother, the all-knowing goddess of wisdom."

He raises his eyebrows at her. She just shakes her head, saying she doesn't want to talk about it. _I've told him enough already. There's not much else about my mother that he needs to know. It's not really any of his business; I just met him. He knows enough as it is. Maybe my mom is right. Sea spawns are good for nothing other than their uncanny ability of weeding out information from people._

_Aren't you being just a bit too harsh? _A small voice in the back of her head asks her.

_Of course not! I'm being too nice. He deserves way worse than that._ Her prideful side counters.

_He's not his father. This isn't even your fight. You can't hold a grudge against him for something his father did to your mother. It was centuries ago._

Annabeth inwardly frowns. _I know, _she gives in. She looks up and notices that they are nearing the fighting area. She smiles to herself, hoping that no one notices. _That doesn't mean I can't have a little fun and show him how to really fight. __Get ready, Seaweed Brain. __If you think Clarisse nearly skewering you with her spear was dangerous or scary, you haven't seen anything yet._

**Sorry that this chapter is quite a bit shorter than my more recent chapters. I'm lucky I was able to write down this much. Once again, thanks for hanging in there with me. :) R&R!**_  
_


	9. The Excruciating Training Session

Percy continues following Annabeth to only the gods know where and he looks up, seeing a large sandy dirt area with training dummies set up in one corner. Annabeth leads him right to the middle of the open space and she turns to face him. They are standing on opposite sides of the training grounds as if they are about to fight each other.

"Instead of using a sword to teach you, I'll be using my dagger to start out with. I'm going to test out each and every one of your skills," Annabeth tells him.

"How are you going to do that?" he asks.

"Simple. I'm going to run a series of trials. The first one will be used for testing out your reflexes. I'm going to start attacking you and all you have to do is dodge. Sound easy enough?"

_Not really. If only you weren't the one fighting me, then it might be a little easier. _"Yeah, I guess so," he answers, shrugging his shoulders. "Wait, am I going to use my sword?"

"Eventually, yes. Just avoid my dagger and keep your eyes focused on me so you can predict which way I'll move next. Turning your back on your opponent is a fatal mistake many people have made. It's best for you to learn from their mistakes so you don't make the same ones."

"Okay. Thanks for the tip." _Great, now she gives me a reason _to _look at her._

The sun glistens on the blade of her dagger as she draws it from its leather scabbard. The light nearly blinds him so he momentarily averts his eyes. He looks back at Annabeth, then at her dagger. From where he's standing the blade looks to be about eight inches long and a shiny bronze color that reminds him of a brand new penny. She twirls it in her hand, walking closer to Percy. She stops within a few feet of him.

"Are you ready?" she asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

She nods, getting into a fighting stance.

Percy mirrors her so he won't be just standing there, waiting to be killed. He wants to look like he knows what he's doing.

Annabeth slowly walks towards him, her dagger ready to strike like a cobra would on its prey. Percy watches her every move as she circles him. She suddenly steps closer and Percy flinches back, thinking she's about to attack. She smiles mischievously, continuing her gradual movement around him. He sticks his tongue out at her. She reciprocates by giving him a look as if saying _That's really mature._

She stops moving and just watches him. His eyes flick over her, checking for any sign of movement that could indicate her next move. Not a single muscle twitches. He frowns as they watch each other. _Does she have to be so good? How can she stay completely still like that?_

Without any warning, Annabeth jumps forward with her dagger raised up high. Percy stumbles backward as the sharp blade slices in the air right where his neck was a split second before. She slashes again, aiming for his arm but he sidesteps, however unsteadily, and she only just misses. Barely a second passes before she goes for him again.

As they continue their dangerously vicious version of the waltz, Percy glances at Annabeth's face. She looks as if she's not even trying very hard and in truth she's probably not. Unlike her, Percy is already tiring out and sweat is dripping down his face. The few seconds it took him to study her face was long enough for Annabeth's blade to get within an inch of his face.

He hardly has enough time to move out of the way before she could decapitate him. He falls back onto the sandy ground with Annabeth standing only a mere foot or two away. She throws her dagger at him; his eyes widen as the weapon spins through the air, heading straight for him. It whizzes right past his ear and hits the ground behind him. He turns to look, finding the dagger sticking out of the sand. He turns back around and sees that Annabeth is right over him. Her arms are crossed with a big triumphant smile on her face.

She holds her hand down towards him. He wipes the hard, gritty sand off his hands and grasps her hand. She helps pull him up. He thanks her while dusting himself off.

"Don't mention it," she replies.

She walks past him to retrieve her dagger from the dirt. She roughly taps it with her foot and it pops out of the ground. With a quick flick of her ankle, the dagger is in the air and in her hand in the next instant. She wipes the dust off it as Percy stares at her with awe.

"That was awesome!" he exclaims.

She turns to him, smiling. "Thanks. You have fairly good reflexes but if you were in a legitimate fight, you would have been killed in a heartbeat." Even though she's being serious, he can hear a hint of amusement hidden in her voice.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not as good as you and if we were actually fighting, I would've surrendered a long time ago."

She laughs. "It'll be much easier if you can use a sword to help block attacks, which is what we'll be doing next. Unsheathe your sword and fighting technique number two."

"Okay."

He takes the sword out of the case unsteadily. The long blade feels wrong in his hand. It feels very unbalanced but he thinks that's normal since he's never really used a weapon before. It's the same sword as he used earlier but he doesn't even remember retrieving it from the beach.

"So... What are we going to do now?"

"Everything," she simply answers.

"What does that mean?"

"Let your instincts take over. Don't think about what you're doing. Just do it. You may not know what to do but your body will. You have ADHD, right?"

He blinks. "Yeah. How'd you-"

"Most demigods have ADHD because our bodies are itching to fight, I guess you could say. You can't stay still because those are your battle instincts," she explains.

_Makes sense I guess._

She continues. "Your dyslexia is the same way. Your brain is hardwired for Greek since demigods are born from Greek gods."

_Also makes sense._

"So, let's do this. Are you ready?" she asks.

"Not really."

She smiles. "Great!"

Seconds after she finishes speaking, she lunges at Percy. He jumps back and his right arm comes up instinctively to block the blow. The loud clang reverberates over the large fighting area as the two weapons clash together. The hilt of Percy's sword locks onto Annabeth's dagger so she shoves him back. He stumbles and catches himself before he falls to the ground.

_Gods, she's strong. Wait... Gods? Never said that before._

Annabeth twirls her dagger and slashes at him. He blocks the move just in time. She attacks with nearly half a second in between each advance and Percy hardly has enough time to block each and every single one of them. She manages to slice his arm just enough to bleed. He winces in pain and pushes her back using his sword as she goes in again. She holds her ground and doesn't even fall back more than a couple inches. He grimaces half from the pain and half from the anger that a girl is so much stronger than he.

His self loathing blinds him so he starts carelessly swinging his sword around like he was earlier during Capture the Flag. Annabeth easily avoids every swing of Percy's sword. Percy is unaware of how she managed to do it but she disarms him. The sword flies from his hand, skittering several feet away. The fact that he is unarmed doesn't stop Annabeth from attacking.

She slashes again but he dodges the attack. She fakes him out, pretending to go one way and then going the opposite. Percy wasn't expecting the trick move so Annabeth is able to knock his legs out from under him. He falls to the ground on his back with a loud thud. Dust flies into the air around him, causing Percy to cough and rub his eyes. He doesn't see the daughter of Athena as she comes closer to him. Seconds later, she has him pinned to the ground with her dagger pressed against his throat hard enough to hurt but not so hard that it draws blood.

Several campers have stopped what they are doing to watch the spectacle. It's not every day that a guy gets beat up by a girl unless, of course, the girl is Annabeth. Percy gulps, looking up at her above him. Her feet are planted on the ground on either side of him. Her bangs are hanging in her face, partially hiding her intense glare. Her eyes are a dark gray but they turn back to normal as a smile forms on her face.

"If I move a couple inches, you'll be dead. You still have much to learn before you can even think about defeating me," she tells him.

"Yeah I know. I never thought I could win against you."

She grins.

"You're too good," he continues.

"Flattery will get you nowhere in combat, Seaweed Brain."

_Seaweed Brain? What the-_ "Seaweed Brain?"

She laughs. "Yeah. That's my nickname for you given that you're obsessed with water. And the fact that you act like there's seaweed clogging your brain so it can't function properly."

"I'm not obsessed with water," he mutters.

"Keep telling yourself that, Seaweed Brain." She emphasizes her name for him teasingly.

"Yeah, well..." _Why can't I think of something to call her? Dang daughter of Athena!_

"What's the matter? Can't come up with any name for me?" She feigns concern for him but he can tell that she's trying not to smile.

_No! _"Can you just get off of me, please!"

"Sure thing." She leans down a little closer to him. His heart beats like a million times a minute as his face starts to redden. "Seaweed brain," she breathes quietly.

With that, she leans back again and stands up. She steps over him and returns her dagger back to its sheath. She gives the crowd a pointed look and they disperse. She turns her attention back to Percy and puts her hand out once again. He takes it, his face still beet red. He thanks her again. She smiles.

"The Athena cabin has archery practice before long so I'll have to leave you to fend for yourself. Think you can handle it?" she asks, smirking.

_Gods, she's so annoying!_

A little voice in the back of his mind decides to input its own thought, _Then why are you still blushing?_

_Shut up!_ Percy yells at the voice. "Yes, I think I can handle it. You don't need to worry about me."_  
_

"Good! You might be able to find Grover somewhere around here if you get lonely."

_He'd much rather have your company, Annabeth! _The voice in his head says.

_I thought I told you to shut up already! Go away!_ "I might go look for him."

"Good. I'll see you later."

He waits to be called Seaweed Brain again but she doesn't say anything else. She just smiles once more and starts walking away. He can't help but watch her walk away. He sighs as she gets farther away._  
_

_I knew it! You like her!_

_Go away!_ He tells the voice again.

_I can't._

_Then shut up!_

_I can't. I will never be silenced and there's nothing you can do about it!_

Percy ignores the voice. He just sighs again as he looks up and notices that Annabeth has completely disappeared from sight. He rubs the shoulder that he fell on when Annabeth knocked him to the ground. His shoulders sting every time his breastplate armor straps rub them. His back feels like someone has been beating really hard on it. _One way or another, she'll be the death of me._

_You said it! Not me, Seaweed Brain!_

Percy glares at nothing. He blocks out anything the voice decides to say as he goes to collect his sword from the dirt. He wipes it off and puts it back in its scabbard. He rolls his shoulders and stretches his muscles to see if that will help the pain. It doesn't. He grimaces, trudging out of the training area to search for Grover.


	10. Hush, Hush

**Thanks to all my loyal readers out there!**

Annabeth meets her cabin mates halfway to the archery range, smiling to herself. The other children of Athena have many similarities with Annabeth. They all have blond hair, gray eyes, and high intelligence. All of the others have decided that Annabeth is gifted because she slightly smarter and more skilled on the battlefield than they are. They appointed her as the cabin leader, which entitles her with the sole responsibility to maintain tranquility within the cabin. She takes her job very seriously as well.

Her half brother, Malcolm, smiles at her as she falls in step with him. "Heard you were training the newcomer. How did it go?"

"He has adequate reflexes but relatively poor balance. He trips over his own feet too much. It's things like that that will get him killed on a battlefield in a heartbeat."

Malcolm laughs. "So, let me guess, you nearly killed him in under ten seconds. Am I right?"

"Give or take a few seconds," she replies, holding back a laugh. "He really wasn't that bad. With some more training he will be a good fighter."

"Evidently a clumsy one," Malcolm chuckles.

Annabeth's eyes darken. _He's not that bad. Leave him alone! Why am I so protective of Percy all of a sudden? Weird. _"Yes, he's clumsy but he'll still be a great fighter. He just needs more work so leave him alone, will you?"

"Protective aren't we?" His smile fades, noticing Annabeth's glare. "I'm just kidding."

"I know that. Chiron told me to keep an eye on Percy, remember? The last thing I need is for people to be teasing him or making fun of him."

"Sorry," he apologizes. "Why'd Chiron ask _you _anyway?"

Annabeth shakes her head. "No clue. I don't mind too much though."

"Really? Why?"

She shrugs. "He's not that bad. He's just a little gauche and oblivious to so many things. That should all pass once he learns to trust his instincts and once he is more comfortable here."

"One could only hope. It'd be a disaster if he was like that all the time. Who's his parent? That might have something to do with the way he is, don't you think?"

_You just had to ask, didn't you? _"I'm not sure who his parent is quite yet. I've been contemplating the possibilities all day. I have come up with only one god." She steps closer to Malcolm, lowering her voice. "I believe that he is the son of Poseidon."

Malcolm stops dead in his tracks, his eyes and his jaw wide open. The campers behind him nearly run into his back. Annabeth grabs his forearm, making him start walking again. The two walk for several minutes in silence. Malcolm turns to Annabeth again, taking a deep breath.

"He can't be a son of Poseidon," he whispers. "It's just not possible. I mean-"

Annabeth cuts him off. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I have plenty of information that confirms my suspicions. He has to be. I know he shouldn't be but he is."

"How? With the treaty and all?"

"Same as with Thalia, remember?"

Malcolm's eyebrows furrow momentarily. "Oh, yeah. I completely forgot. But she has nothing to worry about though. She joined the Hunters. Percy on the other hand..." he trails off.

Annabeth nods. "I know. Just keep this to yourself, okay? Nobody else knows. Not even Percy knows who he is yet."

"How does he not know?" he asks, confused.

She smirks. "Like I said earlier. He's oblivious to _so_ many things. The link between him being a really good swimmer and Lord Poseidon's power over water completely eludes him. I bet he has never even thought about it."

"Probably not."

Annabeth can see the archery range coming into view so she tries to finish their up as quick as possible. "Remember, do not tell anyone about this conversation. No one can know yet. And I do mean no one."

"Understood." he replies.

"We can discuss this later. For now, just focus on archery practice."

"No problem." He smiles.

"We have to pretend like we don't know anything like everyone else," she tells him.

He smirks. "Kinda hard being children of Athena, don't you think?"

Annabeth smiles. "Yeah. But, you know what I mean."

He nods. "This conversation never happened."

She smiles slyly. "What conversation?"

They both laugh, heading into the archery range with the others following not too far behind them. The children of Athena choose their bows and quivers out of the ones kept in the shed nearby. They walk a little closer to the targets and begin archery practice. Just like they said they would, the two children, who know something the others don't, pretend that nothing has changed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LINE BREAK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not too far away, Percy is still in search of Grover. He has explored most of the camp to no avail. He reaches the edge of the woods where the Capture the Flag match was held.

Percy is starting to get frustrated when he hears music deeper into the woods. He follows the sound for a long way. The trees thicken as he heads deeper into the forest. He comes to a small clearing. Trees and bushes surround the open space so it can't be seen from farther away. In the middle of it all, Grover is seated on a moss-covered log, playing reed pipes. He is watching a girl, who is dancing around him, while he plays.

The girl has an elfish-looking face with slightly pointed ears to match. She is relatively small compared to all her surroundings; Percy guesstimates that she's around four feet tall. She's wearing a green chiton -Percy remembers seeing goddesses wearing in Ancient Greek pictures- and sandals. Her green eyes shine from under her amber-colored hair as she skips around Grover, who now has his eyes closed.

Neither of the two seem to acknowledge Percy's presence so he slowly steps out of the forest shadows. Grover opens his eyes and stops playing when he notices Percy walking towards him. The girl continues dancing until she notices that the music has stopped so she turns around. Her eyes widen and her face turns a light green color as she quickly looks to the ground, embarrassed. _Why's her face green? _Percy wonders.

"Hey, Perce," Grover greets his friend.

"Hey, man. Am I interrupting something?" he asks. "Nah, it's okay. Oh I almost forgot. Percy, I'd like you to meet Juniper," Grover says, gesturing towards the girl. "Juniper, Percy."

Juniper looks up and smiles shyly at Percy. "Nice to meet you, Percy."

"Uh, you too, Juniper." He turns to Grover again. "Seriously, I can leave if you were doing something."

"It's okay, Percy," Juniper tells him. "I should go anyway. A storm will be coming soon and I don't want to get caught in the rain."

She walks over to Grover and kisses him on the cheek. He smiles and she returns it. Juniper passes Percy, heading towards the forest. Once she reaches the edge of the trees, she vanishes into the bushes. Percy's eyes widen. _How did she just...disappear like that? _He turns to Grover, eyes wide and eyebrows raised in question. Grover just smiles. Percy walks over and sits down next to him.

"How'd she do that?" he asks.

"Do what? Oh, you mean disappear in the trees?" Percy nods. "She's a wood nymph. They all do that."

"Oh, I guess that explains why her name is Juniper. It's some kind of plant, isn't it?"

Grover nods. "She lives in a juniper bush so that's how she got the name Juniper."

"Oh, that make sense."

Grover smiles and nods. "So how did your training with Annabeth go?"

"Training?" he scoffs. "There wasn't any training. All she did was try and kill me."

Grover laughs. "She wasn't trying to kill you. She just wants you to learn on your own. What better way to learn how to fight than by protecting yourself from attacks?"

"Yeah, I guess. She's way too fast and skilled at fighting."

"What'd you expect?" Grover asks rhetorically. She _is_ a daughter of Athena, the goddess of battle strategy."

"Yeah I know. She could've taken it a little easier on me though."

"Dude, she was taking it easy on you. If she wasn't, then you'd know it."

_She seemed good enough to me. _"You mean she's better than that? Is that even possible?"

"Yeah, man. It's very possible. You should see her fight against the other campers. No one can beat her. Even when she first came here when she was seven, she was sure skilled."

Percy sighs. _I guess I have zero chance of ever beating her then. __Should've guessed that in the first place anyway. _"Luke could beat her though, right?"

The satyr's eyes widen. "Yeah. He's the best fighter I know of. Other than Ares and the other gods, of course."

"Wow."

"Yeah. So, where is Annabeth right now?" Grover asks.

Percy has to stop and think for a second. _I know she told me but I can't remember... Oh, yeah! Now I remember. _"The Athena cabin has archery practice."

Grover smiles and stands up. "Come on, Perce. You should see this."

"Why?" he asks.

"Because you'll be amazed."

"Okay." Percy replies, confused. He stands up anyway and follows his friend out of the clearing.

Grover leads Percy through the woods in the opposite direction from which he came. The gaps between the trees once again get smaller the farther they travel. About ten minutes later, Grover stops and Percy nearly runs into his back. Grover walks slowly to the edge of the forest, motioning Percy to follow him. They stop as close as they can to the edge of the woods as they can without being seen.

On the other side of the trees, Percy can see a bunch of orange camp shirts lined up next to one another. He looks in the direction the campers are facing and can tell that they are shooting targets that are quite a few yards away. Most of the arrows hit really close to the direct center of the targets but some are a little off by only an inch or two. Percy notices that all the Athena kids stop to watch one in particular. Annabeth.

As she's about to shoot her target, Grover nudges Percy a little to get his attention. He turns to the satyr, who gestures to something several feet behind Annabeth. Percy turns to look where his friend is pointing. Someone is walking up behind her, aiming his bow and arrow at the back of her head. Percy starts to get up to stop him but Grover gently yanks on his elbow and shushes him.

_Why isn't Grover doing something? That guy's about to shoot Annabeth in the head with an arrow! _All he can do is watch since Grover won't let go of his arm.

The tall guy fires and Percy nearly yells out again but finds that he can't even utter a single word past the lump in his throat. The arrow spins through the air heading straight for her. As quick as a flash, Annabeth spins around with her dagger drawn, her bow thrown to the ground. Everything moves too quickly for Percy to catch from his hiding spot with leaves and branches blocking his view. In the next instant, Annabeth is glaring at her attacker. The arrow that was about to hit her in the back of her head is now laying in two pieces in the dirt.

_How'd she do that? That's impossible!_

"Nice try, Solace. You should know better than to attempt something as stupid as that," Annabeth says to the camper.

He shrugs. "It was worth a try. The Stolls made a bet. I was trying to prove them wrong."

"So, what was the bet." she asks.

"They both bet that I wouldn't be able to shoot your target from behind you without you doing anything about it."

Annabeth smiles. "Better luck next time. I guess you owe them now."

The camper shrugs. "They already stole my wallet. I could only have it back if I won the bet."

"Hope there wasn't a whole lot in there."

He shakes his head. "Not really. Just about two dollars and some pennies."

"Too bad for them, then." She laughs.

Grover slowly starts walking away and tugs on Percy's arm. He takes one last look at the daughter of Athena before he starts following his friend. They leave as quietly as possible. Once they are far enough away, Percy turns to Grover.

"How did she do that? That was amazing! She was so fast! I thought she was a goner!" he exclaims.

Grover laughs. "Didn't I tell you she was fast, man?"

"Did you know he was going to do that?"

He nods. "I overheard them talking about it earlier."

"Oh, okay. I definitely do _not _want to go up against her for real. She'd skewer me!"

Grover laughs, knowing that it's true.

"So who was that guy? Solace?" Percy asks.

"His name is Will Solace. He's a son of Apollo, which makes him an expert archer. Even though he's really good, he still couldn't hit Annabeth's target."

"She never gave him a chance to," Percy chuckles. "She's way too fast."

"Yeah, I know she is." Grover glance up at the sky for a second before looking back at Percy. "Come on. We should head back to camp. Supper will start before long. We have just enough time to get through the forest and get back to camp."

"Good, I'm starving even though it feels like we just ate not too long ago."

"Always feels like that here. Time flies by for most people when they are at camp," Grover explains.

"Time flies when you are nearly getting killed I guess."

They laugh as they walk through the trees. Percy nearly trips several times over tree roots and the uneven ground. Grover walks (or trots) along with ease. It's as if he doesn't even notice any of the bumps on the forest floor. Not many minutes later, they find themselves near the exact same place Percy remembers entering the woods when he was in search of Grover.

The delicious smell of food wafts in the air, luring all the campers to the dining pavilion from their camp activities. Percy and Grover are right along with them. Grover trots ahead of Percy to get first pick at the best vegetables. Percy recognizes the campers from the Hermes cabin in the large crowd so he jogs over to join them. A few smile at him as he slows to a walk. They all get their food and take their seats for supper. Percy begins thinking that it's the very best food he has ever had in his entire life.


End file.
